Trade exchange system and method

ABSTRACT

A trade exchange system and method provide transparency and accountability for each idea producer and each follower of each idea producer with respect to trades executed based on a trade idea circulated by the idea producer. The trade exchange system and method may use application-programming interfaces (APIs) to gather data from a brokerage entity in order to verify the trades executed in response to the trade idea by the idea producer and the follower.

PRIORITY CLAIMS/RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation in part and claims priority under 35USC 120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/489,043, filed Apr. 17,2017 and entitled ‘Trade Exchange System and Method”, the entirety ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The field relates generally to a system and method for assessing trades.

BACKGROUND

There is a significant industry that exists in which investors orinvestment advisors try to sell their ideas for investments tocustomers. The investment advisor typically receives a commission foreach time that investment advisor convinces a customer to follow theinvestment advice. Almost everyone has been subjected to an investmentadvisor's communication about a new investment opportunity. Thesecommunications are often high pressure selling in which the investmentadvisor is incentivized to sell you the new investment opportunity dueto the commission. The problem with the above method is that there is notransparency or accountability for the investment advisor or for thecustomer. Thus, the investment advisor can make unverifiable claimsabout the success of his/her investment tips and opportunities and it isdifficult for a customer to assess the actual success rate of theinvestment tips and opportunities of the particular investment advisor.Similarly, a customer can make unverifiable claims about the investmentadvisor and his/her investment tips and opportunities, both positive andnegative.

The investment advisor may be more generally known as an idea producersince the investment advisor is producing the idea for the investment,such as a stock purchase or sale. In addition to the investment advisor,the idea producer may also be any other person or entity that generatesa new idea for an investment opportunity. For example, the idea producermay be a registered investment advisor (working at, for example, EdJones, Morgan Stanley, Meryl Lynch, etc.) or unregistered ideaproducers.

Modernly, many different idea publishers/producers use web conferencesystems, which can be manipulated to not show all the details, like realaccount numbers. The problem with this approach is when you are guidingsomeone and trading on a simulated account, the fills of the trades arenot real, therefore the results are fake, yet the publisher is sellingto the public that they are producing real results. Thus, these webconference systems provide unverifiable claims and a lack oftransparency.

A significant number of idea producers rely on previous track records asevidence of the success of the particular idea producer. However,consumers want the ability to assess every idea that an idea producersends to the particular customer and they want to see how an ideathey've received has performed in their account as compared to the ideapublisher's account. There is no known system that is independentlytracking the results of a trade in both the idea publisher's account aswell as the consumer's account for each investment idea. Furthermore,there is no system that will calculate the results on an equal weightedbasis for both the publisher and the consumer. For example, if an ideapublisher decides that a particular idea is extra special and thereforeit deserves more attention (larger investment/larger lot) than thatinformation should be tracked. No current system calculates that changein lot sentiment.

Other existing systems provide a chat room/trading room that show anidea publisher making trades, but there is no accounting for all theideas on an equal weighted basis. An equal weighted basis means dollarfor dollar what is the true rate of return. For example, when aninvestor looks at 20 trades, for example, if the investor put $1 in eachtrade, what would the return be for the trades, expressed as apercentage? In other words, different size lots for trades are notaccounted for so that the customer can distinguish these differenttrades. Furthermore, the performance metrics of the idea publisher arenot independently verified or easily accessible to a customer.

Some other systems exist that provide trade idea sharing, includingStockTwits (a twitter for stocks) and Invest Feed. For example, withStockTwits, there is no real way to verify anything that the ideapublisher claims so that a consumer will never know if the idea producerput their own money into the trade idea. Invest Feed allows portfoliointegration but there is no mechanism for a customer to verify that theidea producer who suggests a trade idea actually makes a trade (known astaking a position) based on the trade idea. Thus, with Invest Feed, anidea producer could distribute a claim (a trade idea) and then wait toactually act on that claim. Thus, these systems and method have neithertracking of the results of the trade ideas nor any accountability forthose trade ideas.

Many existing platforms do not show a follower (a customer that isfollowing/acting on the trade idea of the idea producer) what the exactprice, time and lot (investment size) of the trade that the ideapublisher made to act on the trade idea and get into a position based onthe trade idea. These types of platforms also do not show the followerif the idea publisher even took the trade with real money resulting inno accountability like the other systems.

The technical problem with providing the tracking of results andaccountability has been that integration with brokerage firms wasunavailable and therefore getting honest results about trades wasimpossible. While a customer was able to get a statement about thetrade, manipulation was prominent thus reducing the veracity of thestatement. Due to that manipulation, there is no trust in financialpublishers or professionals. Furthermore, customers do not believeinvestment publisher or gurus because of this abuse and manipulation.

The field of investment advice has been fraught with problems for boththe idea publisher as well as for registered investment personnel. Forthe idea publisher, the followers would blame the publisher for notproducing results yet. In addition, the follower is often times the onethat put in the trade wrong and then blamed it the error on the ideaproducer. When this occurs, there's a debate over who is at fault. It isdesirable to provide a technical solution that can resolve this issuefor idea publishers.

The registered investment personnel, when a licensed stockbroker/investment advisor calls up a client to say he has a great idea,the customer debates the merits and the customer sometimes takes thetrade. As time passes, a customer may want to a number of trade ideasthat were provided by the registered personnel and the associatedresults of those trades. Trying to determine the results of the tradesfrom memory or a statement from a broker to track each idea'sperformance is not realistic. Furthermore, it is even more unrealisticto track the equal weighted performance, when there are multiple tradelot suggestions. For the registered investment personnel, there is noaccountability for the consumer who finally decides to act on thebroker's recommendation, which end up being a loser, yet the previous 4trade ideas were winners. In that scenario the broker is bad and atfault, yet that's not fair to the broker and his reputation. It isdesirable to provide a technical solution that can resolve this issuefor registered investment personnel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a trade exchange system;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a trade exchange method;

FIG. 3 illustrates more details of the trade exchange backend systemthat is part of the system in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 4 illustrates a method for trade data analysis that is part of thetrade exchange method shown in FIG. 2 ;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a result user interface generated bythe trade exchange system that shows a user the one or more trade ideasand the statistics about the trade idea(s);

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a result user interface generated bythe trade exchange system that shows trades for a particular ideaproducer feed;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a result user interface generated bythe trade exchange system that shows the actual trade data for aparticular user and the idea producer;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a result user interface generated bythe trade exchange system displayed to an idea publisher showing thetrades of the idea publisher and the follower;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a result user interface generated bythe trade exchange system displayed to an idea publisher showing theresults of the trades in the system;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a user interface to create a new tradeidea;

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a user interface to display a newtrade idea to a follower;

FIGS. 12-14 illustrate examples of a user interface for a follower toact on a trade idea and confirm the trade based on the trade idea;

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a user interface to display a positionof a follower;

FIGS. 16-17 illustrate an example of a user interface to display andexecute an exit strategy (close the position) for a trade for an ideaproducer or follower;

FIG. 18 illustrates an example of a user interface for setting/adjustingthe user's default trade settings;

FIGS. 19A-C illustrate a second embodiment of a results user interfacegenerated by the trade exchange system that shows a user the one or moretrade ideas and the statistics about the trade idea(s);

FIG. 20 illustrates further details of the results user interface formissed trades of the trade exchange system; and

FIG. 21 illustrates further details of the results user interface forrogue trades of the trade exchange system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ONE OR MORE EMBODIMENTS

The disclosure is particularly applicable to a trade exchange system andmethod for stock trades and it is in this context that the disclosurewill be described. It will be appreciated, however, that the system andmethod has greater utility since it may be used for other trade ideasfor bonds, commodities, other securities, equity options, baskets ofsecurities/portfolios (for example a mutual fund or other investmentvehicle) and/or portfolio changes from A portfolio to B portfolio. Thesystem and method may be used for tracking and providing transparencyfor trades with the same lot sizes (with a lot size being the number ofshares of stock in the illustrative example or an amount of moneyinvested in a trade idea), but may also be used for tracking andproviding transparency for trades having different lot sizes that mayindicate, for example, a different level of importance for a trade ideahaving larger lot size. This different in lot size may be known as thelot sentiment of the idea producer and is not tracked by the typicalsystems as described above. Examples of the lot sentiment (a number oflots of a security or stock to buy/sell in the investment advice) areshown in FIG. 10 showing trade advice position with a lot size of “1”and FIG. 14 showing a count me in user interface that includes thequantity (lot size) which is “1” that equates to 100 shares in theexample in FIG. 14 .

The system and method may be used to track and provide transparency forvarious different idea producers that may include unregistered ideaproducers and registered idea producers like brokers or investmentadvisors, such as personnel at Ed Jones, Morgan Stanley, Meryl Lynch,etc. An idea producer is a person, entity, etc. that publishes an ideafor a trade while a follower is a person or entity that acts on thetrade idea of an idea producer. Furthermore, although the example systemdescribed below is client server type architecture, the system may beimplemented using various architectures, such as software as a servicemodel/architecture, a cloud based architecture and the like.

The trade exchange system and method provides accountability andtransparency for each of the parties including the idea producer and oneor more followers who act on the trade idea of the idea producer. Thetrade exchange system and method also allows those idea producers tocommunicate with a plurality of followers about the trade ideas. Thetrade exchange system and method further addresses the problemsdescribed above for idea producers as well as registered investmentadvisors. Due to the accountability and transparency provided by thetrade exchange system, the trade exchange system and method allows theclaims (correct or nor) made by an idea producer or a customer/followerto be verified by the system and method.

The biggest problem for trade ideas and acting on an idea producer'strade idea is understanding whether the particular idea producer hasbeen profitable with the trade ideas. When a follower receives ideas viathe trade exchange system 100, everything is tracked and results arecalculated as described below. In addition, the lot suggestion per ideais taken into account in order to calculate the equal weighted/fairresults per idea producer. In the system, the results of the ideaproducer's trades are compared to the results of the follower, whichtells the follower if the idea producer is making them any money, ornot. The results page of the system also tells the publisher if thefollower is able to act on the idea, if the follower actually acted onthe trade idea and if the follower made any money on that person's tradeideas. Followers can use the results page to see how many ideas theyreceived from an idea producer, how many ideas they acted on and therelated results. Users can then dig deeper and see the exact tradetimes, fill prices and if the idea producer put their money behind theidea or not. All of the above is verified by the exchange. Otherwisethere is no real verification, hence the problem being solved by thesystem and method described below.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a trade exchange system 100 thatprovides transparency and accountability for trade ideas between one ormore idea producer(s) 104A-104N and one or more followers (client 1108A, client 2 108B, . . . , client N 108N), both of which take aposition (make a trade) based on the trade idea. Each idea producer maybe an entity, person, etc. that is a source of a trade idea (e.g., buy100 shares or Microsoft in the illustrative stock trading example). Thetrade ideas and trades made by each idea producer may be tracked by thesystem 100 so that a follower is able to review the trade ideas andtrades. Each follower may be a person, entity, etc. that receives one ormore trade ideas from one or more idea producers and take a position(make a trade) based on the trade idea. The system 100 allows eachfollower to review the record of trade ideas and trades of each ideaproducer when determining whether or not to take a position andmemorialize the trade decision of the follower. Thus, the system 100provides transparency and accountability both for the one or morefollowers and the one or more idea producers using a technology solutiondescribed below in more detail.

Each idea producer 104A, . . . , 104N may be a computer system thatpermits each idea producer to interact with a trade exchange system 106over a communications path. For example, each idea producer may submittrade ideas to the trade exchange system, may review/view userinterfaces generated by the trade exchange system (described below inmore detail) and may take a position based on their own trade idea. Eachidea producer 104 system may have at least one processor, memory,persistent storage, such as flash memory or a hard disk drive, userinput/output devices, a display and communications circuits forestablishing a connection and exchanging data with the trade exchangesystem 100. For example, each idea producer system may be a personalcomputer, a laptop computer, a smartphone device, a terminal device, atablet computer and the like. In other embodiments, each idea producersystem 104 may be a specialized piece of hardware that is uniquelycreated for the purpose of interacting with the trade exchange system100. Each idea producer 104 system may further have an application, suchas a browser application, downloaded application, mobile application,etc. that is executed by the processor and manages the connection andexchanging data with the trade exchange system 100. In differentembodiments, the system may make the application available in HTML (webpage with a browser), the mobile apps and wearable apps like anapplication that may executed on a smartwatch device like the AppleiWatch or Android operating system based watches. For example, in clientserver type architecture, the application may be a browser applicationthat uses a HTTP or HTTPS data protocol and HTML language to connect tothe trade exchange system and exchange data with the trade exchangesystem. The trade exchange system 100 may host a plurality of ideaproducers who each submit multiple trade ideas to the system and eachidea producer may have a plurality of followers that act on the tradeidea of the particular idea producer. The system 100 may have each ideaproducer sign up for the system 100 (including providing access to thebrokerage account of the idea producer) and may display the trades for aplurality of idea producers and their followers.

Each follower 108A, . . . , 108N may be a computer system that permitseach follower to interact with a trade exchange system 106 over acommunications path. For example, each follower may receive trade ideasfrom one or more idea producers, may review/view user interfacesgenerated by the trade exchange system (described below in more detail)and may take a position based on the trade idea. Each follower 108system may have at least one processor, memory, persistent storage, suchas flash memory or a hard disk drive, user input/output devices, adisplay and communications circuits for establishing a connection andexchanging data with the trade exchange system 100. For example, eachfollower system may be a personal computer, a laptop computer, asmartphone device, a terminal device, a tablet computer and the like. Inother embodiments, each follower system 108 may be a specialized pieceof hardware that is uniquely created for the purpose of interacting withthe trade exchange system 100. Each follower 108 system may further havean application, such as a browser application, downloaded application,mobile application, etc. that is executed by the processor and managesthe connection and exchanging data with the trade exchange system 100.For example, in client server type architecture, the application may bea browser application that uses a HTTP or HTTPS data protocol and HTMLlanguage to connect to the trade exchange system and exchange data withthe trade exchange system. The system 100 may have each follower sign upfor the system 100 (including providing access to the brokerage accountof the follower) and may display the trades for a plurality of followersand the idea producers being followed by each follower.

The system 100 may also have a trade exchange system 106 that acts as anintermediary between the one or more idea producers and the one or morefollowers to provide transparency and accountability for trade ideasproffered by each idea producer. The trade exchange system 106 may beimplemented using one or more computing device elements, such as one ormore processors, one or more storage devices, a blade server, a servercomputer, an application server, a database server, etc., but the tradeexchange system 106 may also be implemented using specialized hardwareoptimized for the functions and operations of the trade exchange system106 that may include, for example, unique application programminginterface processors for each broker/bank 102 and each brokerage firm110 that provide the transparency and accountability for trade ideasproffered by each idea producer as described below. Each elements of thetrade exchange system 106 (shown for example in FIG. 3 ) may beimplemented in software or hardware. When any element is implemented insoftware, the element, such as an API processor or trade data analyzerin FIG. 3 , may comprise a plurality of lines of computercode/instructions that may be executed by a processor of the computingdevice elements to perform the functions and operations of theparticular element of the trade exchange system 106. When any element isimplemented in hardware, the element, such as an API processor or tradedata analyzer in FIG. 3 , may comprise a hardware device, such as forexample a programmable logic device, microprocessor, microcontroller,etc. or a specialized piece of hardware that is uniquely created for thepurpose of interacting with the trade exchange system 100 to perform thefunctions and operations of the particular element of the trade exchangesystem 106. The trade exchange system 106 may perform trade analysis foreach idea producer trade idea, gather data about each trade through APIsand provide a summary of the trade analysis to each idea producer andeach follower as described below that provides the transparency andattribution for the trades. The trade exchange system 106 may furthercomprise storage (implemented in hardware or software) that store thevarious trade data, user data (both followers and idea producers),computer code/instructions when the elements of the trade exchangesystem 106 are implemented in software and other pieces of data. Forexample, the storage may store a set of credentials for each user of thesystem (followers and idea producers) that may be used to access thebrokerage account of the user using the API interface engine asdescribed below.

The system 100 may further comprise one or more brokers/banks 102 andone or more brokerage firms 110 that are coupled to the trade exchangesystem 106 as shown. Each of these systems are coupled to the tradeexchange system 106 using APIs that interact with one or more interfaceprocessor(s) of the trade exchange system shown in FIG. 3 . The APIaccess retrieves the trade data in real time which validates the tradetimes, prices, the amount bought or sold and if there even was apurchase linked to the idea, made by the idea producer. The APIinterfaces are not available to the public and takes an extremelyexperienced “trading” programmer to develop. The API access to all themajor brokerage firms allow the system to include the real time tradedata for the vast majority of self-directed investors making it aholistic solution for the masses. The fact that the system can ensurethe data has not been manipulated by anyone is also important. Thus, theAPIs allow the trade exchange system to gather data about each trademade by an idea producer 104 or follower 108 based on a trade idea foran idea producer so that the trade data may be analyzed and thenpresented to each of the idea producer 104 or follower 108 to providethe transparency and accountability for the trade idea as describedbelow in more detail.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a trade exchange method 200 for aparticular new trade idea generated by a particular idea producer 104 sothat this process would be performed for each trade idea for each tradeproducer 104. The method 200 may be performed by the system 100 shown inFIG. 1 , but may also be implemented using other systems and devices. Inthe method, the idea producer 104 may generate new trade idea that iscommunicated, through the trade exchange system 106 to each follower 108of the idea producer. In some embodiments, the set of followers for aparticular idea producer may be set/established by the particular ideaproducer and the system may store the set of followers for eachparticular idea producer. The system may provide the idea publisher oran administrator of a community feed (a community feed is one whereevery person can contribute to the pool of new ideas) the ability toinvite, manage, and charge a subscription rate for feed access. Theadministrator of either a Private Feed (published/guru feed where onlythe admin can contribute the pool of ideas) or community feed can usethis platform as a tool to manage a business or group. The system andmethod may be used by people to manage their business on this platform,the business of selling ideas or managing a group of like-mindedinvestors/traders. The trade exchange system 106, based on the new tradeidea, may analyze the trade data for the idea producer (including pasttrade ideas) and generate a result page for each follower 108 thatcontains data about the trades made by the particular idea producer(examples of which are shown in FIGS. 5-9 ) that provided transparencyand accountability. Specifically, the trade data (that includes the datafrom the banks and brokerages) displayed in the results page shows theactual results of trades (both by the idea producer and the followers)made based on previous or current trade ideas so that everyone canreview the actual trade data which leads to transparency andaccountability for both the idea producer and the followers that solvesthe problems with trading discussed above in the background.

In response to the trade idea and the trade data in the results page, afollower may send a trade request to their bank/brokerage 102 and thebank/brokerage 102 may send a trade confirmation indicating that a tradewas made (that is based on the trade idea). The method 200 howeverprovides a feedback mechanism so that the actual trade data may bedisplayed in the results page to both the idea producer and thefollower. Thus, the trade exchange system 106 may verify the tradeinformation with the brokerage 110 and, using the APIs, gather the tradeinformation about the trade that was just executed. The trade exchangesystem 106 may then analyze that trade data, store the data in thestorage associated with the trade exchange system 106 and then updatethe trade data based on the recent trade so that the updated trade datamay be communicated to each of the idea producer and follower(s). Thus,the system is continuously updating the trade data so that the resultspage generated and presented to each of the idea producer andfollower(s) is current and shows the current trade statistics whichfurther provides the transparency and accountability for both the ideaproducer and the followers that solves the problems with tradingdiscussed above in the background.

FIG. 3 illustrates more details of the trade exchange backend system 106that is part of the system in FIG. 1 . As described above, each of theseelements of the trade exchange system 106 may be implemented in softwareor hardware. The trade exchange system 106 may further comprise an APIinterface engine 106A that requests and receives the trade data from thebank(s)/broker(s) 102 and the brokerage(s) 110 using an API. The API foreach of the bank(s)/broker(s) 102 and the brokerage(s) 110 may be uniqueand the API interface engine 106A may have one or more sub-modules thathandle each API. In the system, each API may be used, once a trade hasoccurred by a follower or an idea producer, to extract, in real time,trade data about the trade including described below. For example, if aparticular follower or idea producer uses brokerage A (and has providedaccess credentials to the trade exchange system), the API interfaceengine 106A may use the API for brokerage A to retrieve the actual tradedata. Similarly, if a particular follower or idea producer usesbrokerage B and C (and has provided access credentials to the tradeexchange system), the API interface engine 106A may use the API forbrokerages B and C to retrieve the actual trade data. In the tradeexchange system, the real time retrieval of the trade data may occurwhen each trade for a trade idea is executed. The API interface engine106A may also then normalize the trade data received using each API andforward the trade data onto other elements of the trade exchange system.For example, the trade exchange system may display the trade data and/oruse the actual trade data to calculate the trade statistics as describedbelow.

The trade exchange system 106 may further comprise a trade data analyzer106B. The trade data analyzer may receive the new trade data from theAPI engine 106A or retrieve prior data stored in the storage andanalyses that trade data as described in more detail in FIG. 4 . Theanalyzed trade data may be stored back into the storage and/or providedto a UI engine 106C that may then generate the results page for one ormore of the idea producer and the follower(s). The trade data analyzer106B may perform extremely difficult calculations, which include lotparameters for true IRR (internal rate of return) and accountability. Incertain embodiments of the system, the system may calculate how manytrades are profitable, how many trades are not profitable, the win toloss ratio of all of the trades (winning trades/total trades) and/or anincrease or decrease in notional value across open and closed positions(such as $ change=(all closed position net gain or loss)+(all currentopen net gain or loss). The system may perform those calculations acrossnumerous, if not hundreds of open and closed positions which isdifficult. The system may also determine a percentage gain withmultiple, 10, 20, 50 100 open positions as well as closed positions. Inthe above determinations, the system may take the lot suggestion intoaccount when the follower enters in their quantity so that the userknows how many shares to invest.

The trade exchange system 106 may further comprise the user interface(UI) engine 106C that may generate a results page to each idea producerand each follower of each trade producer. The UI engine 106C may receivetrade data from the trade data analyzer 106B and/or retrieve trade datafrom the storage in order to generate the results page. Examples of theresults page are shown in FIGS. 5-9 described below. Note that eachresults page from each idea producer and his or her follower(s) isunique since the trade data used to generate each results page is uniqueto that particular idea producer.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method 400 for trade data analysis that is part ofthe trade exchange method shown in FIG. 2 . In some embodiments, themethod 400 may be performed by the trade analysis element 106B shown inFIG. 3 , but may also be performed using other devices and elements. Inthe method, a trade idea may be submitted and shared with thefollower(s) (402). The trade idea, in one embodiment for stock trades,may include the security to be traded, a price at which to trade thesecurity, time constraints for the trade. For example, the trade ideamay have an expiration date (the idea is only valid until a certaindate.) For example, the idea is only valid as long as the particularsecurity price is above or below a certain price and the idea is onlyvalid as long as either 1 or 2 of XYZ security (S& P for example) isgreater than or less than price A and a lot suggestion (e.g., a numberof shares to be traded). The trade idea may be for a sale of thesecurity, a short sale of a security, a purchase of a security and thelike. In other embodiments in which the trade exchange system is usedfor other items/things that may be traded, the trade idea contents maybe different.

When the trade idea information is received, a trade quantity may becalculated. The trade quantity may be calculated by taking into accountdefault investment amount, lot suggestion, security and account marginrestrictions. The parameters may include a number of shares or dollarsize. For example 1 lot=100 shares, then if the idea publisherrecommends 4 lot for Sprint (8.37) then the calculation would be100*4*8.37. If the default was $1000.00, the calculation would be1000*4=$4000/8.37=477.89, the system would then round down to thenearest whole number to compute—477 shares as the number suggested tobuy.

The results page for each user may be generated based on the trade ideaand the calculated trade quantity (406). The display of the trade ideaand the quantity achieves two benefits (and helps ensure thetransparency and accountability). First, the display of the trade ideaand the quantity makes it easier for a user to implement the trade idea(since all of the required information is displayed to the user) sinceit removes some barriers to following the trade idea. Second, thedisplay of the trade idea and the quantity ensures that the strategy inthe trade idea is followed correctly by each follower to reduce anymiscommunication so that each follower is held accountable for the tradethat the follower executes, especially if the follower does not followthe strategy of the trade idea.

The user may then execute the trade and a set of theoretical results ofthe trade may be calculated and displayed (408). For example, based onthe example above, if a user bought 477 shares of spring forapproximately $4,000 the system would take that data and calculate whata max loss. For example, if there was not stop loss than the max losswould be —$4000 or the entire investment. If there was a stop losstarget in the idea, such as $8 per share that would be the stop losstarget, then the max loss would be 477*(8.37−8). To calculate a maxprofit, the system may determine if there is a profit target, and ifnot, the max profit is unlimited. If there was a profit target of $9.00,for example, then the calculation would be (9−8.37*477). The system canadjust the maximum profit and loss calculations in real time as a useradjusts the quantity of the trade order. The system may also generatethe above results if a user/investor is selling short. The method may,once the position for the trade is closed, determine a set of results ofthe trade as a percentage and nominal amount (410). Once the theoreticalvalue and results discussed above are replaced with real trade data, thecalculation move from theoretical to actualized may be adjusted based onthe actual fill price for the trade. The results page generated by thesystem and method may include the above determined trade data so thatthe results may be compared to the results of the idea producer (sincethe idea producer may have made the same trade based on the trade idea.The calculation of the results and the display of those results ensureaccountability of the idea producer since each follower can see thecomparison of the results by the idea producer for the trade idea.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a result user interface 500 generatedby the trade exchange system that shows a user the one or more tradeideas and the statistics about the trade idea(s). This screen shows theuser how many ideas they have taken or acted upon while using theplatform. This includes ideas that originate from others as well asideas that they came up with themselves. The results page may include acomparison portion 502 that allows a user (a follower) to select one ormore different idea producers to compare the trade data. The resultspage further comprises a user portion 504 that identifies the user whois requesting the results page, a trade data portion 506 that displaysthe various trade data and a menu portion 508 that allows the user tocontrol the user interfaces that are generated by the system. The menuportion 508 may include, for example, a view details button so that theuser can drill down on any of the trade data, a results button to selectthe results page (as shown in FIG. 5 ) and other control buttons. Theresults user interface thus provides and displays the “details” of theactual trade data and the details of the actual trade data may include,for example, when someone bought, if they bought, how much was purchasedor sold, at what price the trade actually occurred (e.g., the price atwhich the user got their order filled.) This display of the details ofthe trade data would not be possible without the above described APIsthat also allow the details of the actual trade to be displayed inreal-time.

The trade data portion 506 may include various trade data for the userfor a particular idea producer and the trade data may be retrieved fromthe external sources using the API or generated/calculated by the tradeexchange system as described above and then displayed on the resultspage. For example, the trade data portion 506 may include a taken tradesportion 506A that shows a total number of positions (open and closedpositions) as well as a number of closed positions. When someone want toopen a position they are saying that they want to put money on the linewith the intention of making a profit by betting that the stock goes upor down. When someone puts money on the line and “takes a position” theyare committing funds to an idea with the intention of making a profit.When someone wants to close a position they are requesting to sell theposition and turn the ownership stake in the trade idea back into cash.Thus, closing a position is when people get their money back, or, asmuch of their money is left or their money plus a profit. The trade dataportion 506 further may include a winners portion 506B that displayswinning trades of the user (trades in which the user made money) withboth total number of positions and closed positions and a losers portion506C that displays losing trades of the user (trades in which the userhas lost money) with both a total number of positions and closedpositions. The trade data portion 506 further may include a won/losspercentage portion 506D that displays a win/loss percentage (generatedby the system) for both a total number of positions and closedpositions. The trade data portion 506 further may include money gainedportion 506E that displays the gain or loss of the user (calculated bythe system) for the trades for both a total number of positions andclosed positions. Unlike the conventional system that uses a simulatedaccount as described above, the system and method validates claims thata purchase was made with real money (using the APIs) and thus solves theproblem using the APIs and trade exchange system that form the technicalsolution to the problem. The trade data portion 506 further may includea percentage gained portion 506F that displays the percentage gain orloss of the user (calculated by the system) for the trades for both atotal number of positions and closed positions.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a result user interface generated bythe trade exchange system that shows trades for a particular ideaproducer feed compared to a particular selected idea producer. In thisscreen, there is a user trade data portion 602 that displays the user'strade data 602 as before with the same categories of trade data as shownin FIG. 5 and an idea producer portion 604 that displays the trade datafor the idea producer (with the same trade data categories as thosedisplayed for the user) so that the user can compare his/her trade datawith the trade data of the idea producer for the trades made by the ideaproducer. To populate the idea producer portion 604, the user may selectone of the feeds (one of the circles in the user interface) from an ideaproducer from the comparison portion 502 shown in FIG. 5 . Money Makerwas selected in the example in FIG. 6 . The idea producer portion 604may display the number of trade ideas a particular feed sent the user.The user portion 602 displays an account of the ideas, from thatparticular feed, that the user acted upon and the results of thosetrades. Thus, the user can compare their performance with theperformance of the idea producer. For example, did the idea producermake more or less money on the exact same trade idea? If the user wantsto get granular and see the trade time, price, and quantity or if theidea producer put money behind the idea then they select the “ViewDetails” button at the bottom of the user interface.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a result user interface 700 generatedby the trade exchange system that shows the actual trade data for aparticular user and the idea producer. This user interface 700 isdisplayed to the user when the user clicks on the view details button sothat the user can see the actual trade data for both the user and theidea producer so this page allows the user to see why their traderesults differ from publisher. This page also illustrates to the user ifthe publisher put money behind the idea. The example in FIG. 7 showstrade data for a particular trade for QID stock made on Dec. 12, 2012 ina trade display portion 702. The user interface has a user trade dataportion 704 and an idea producer portion 706 side by side with thevarious trade data shown side by side as well for comparison purposes.The knowledge of the data shown in FIG. 7 is a big deal to the userbecause many users are not honest with their results and this userinterface helps both the idea producer and their follower. Furthermore,this user interface holds the idea producer accountable. In FIG. 7 (andsubsequent figures) the user interface may also display buying andselling price (in and out) for the stock, the time of both of the in andout trades, the percentage change and the amount of change due to thetrade.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a result user interface 800 generatedby the trade exchange system displayed to an idea publisher showing thetrades of the idea publisher and the follower. The example in FIG. 8shows trade data for a particular trade for QID stock made on Dec. 12,2012 in a trade display portion 802. The user interface has an ideapublisher trade data portion 804 and a follower data portion 806 side byside with the various trade data shown side by side as well forcomparison purposes. This user interface allows the publisher to quicklysee if the follower acted on the idea they provided. In the example inFIG. 8 , the particular follower did not take/act on the particulartrade idea for QID stock. The user interface also shows the ideaproducer what exactly the follower did, when they did it and how closethey were to actually implementing the ideas as instructed. This userinterface (that includes generated trade data) makes the followeraccountable for following the ideas/advice of the idea provider. LikeFIG. 7 , the user interface may also display buying and selling price(in and out) for the stock, the time of both of the in and out trades,the percentage change and the amount of change due to the trade.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a result user interface 900 generatedby the trade exchange system displayed to an idea publisher showing theresults of the trades in the system. The example in FIG. 9 shows tradedata for a particular trade for QID stock made on Dec. 12, 2012 in atrade display portion 902. The user interface has an idea publishertrade data portion 904 and a follower data portion 906 (that is blank inthis user interface) side by side. The user interface shows the resultsof trades (including generated trade data) an idea publisher put thoughthe system. Like FIG. 7 , the user interface may also display buying andselling price (in and out) for the stock, the time of both of the in andout trades, the percentage change and the amount of change due to thetrade. When a prospect wants to see the previous track record of aparticular person or feed, they can be granted access to this data.Since there is no one to compare with (they are not current followers)then they only will see the performance of the idea producer.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a user interface to create a new tradeidea. In order to share an idea, an idea producer would select whom toshare with (a Feed) along with the “trading” specifics and shortdescription of the idea as shown in FIG. 10 . They would then previewthe information (in FIG. 11 ) to ensure that the trade idea is what theywant to share. The idea producer may then publish the trade idea to thefollower(s) using the publish button shown in FIG. 11 . The LotSuggestion is what tells the follower how much importance/money incomparison to a normal amount to put behind the idea. The system takesthat along with the position cost and the users default investment sizeinto account as it calculates the quantity a follower would use to tradewith. An example of a user interface for setting/adjusting the user'sdefault settings is shown in FIG. 18 .

FIGS. 12-14 illustrate examples of a user interface for a follower toact on a trade idea and confirm the trade based on the trade idea. If afollower was part of a feed for the idea producer, they would haveaccess to the ideas shared within the feed such as shown in FIG. 12 .Each trade idea show up as a card as shown in FIG. 12 and if the userlikes the idea and wants to act on the idea, the follower would hit“COUNT ME IN” link. FIG. 13 shows an example of a feed for an ideaproducer that has a plurality of trade ideas each of which may be actedon by each follower. If the follower wants to act on the trade idea, thefollower may adjust the quantity if they wanted as shown in FIG. 14 .The system would automatically adjust the quantity via calculation ofthe lot suggestion, defaults and position cost. For example, if the userdefault lot setting is 100 shares then if the idea publisher uses a 3lot, for example, then the default quantity would be equal to Lotsuggestion*lot default=quantity default for idea. If the default lotsetting was a notional value, $1000.00 for example, the calculation forthe idea default quantity may be Lot suggestion*default value=IdeaAmount. The system may use the Idea amount and divide that by entrylimit price (or margin requirement per share if going short) tocalculate the idea default quantity. That is how the system, in realtime, calculates the default shares needed for the idea. If the amountis not a whole number, the system may round down to the nearest wholeshare.

At that point users can hit “TAKE THIS TRADE” link in FIG. 14 to sendthe trade to the broker to execute the trade. This is an error free wayto act on others ideas in 5-10 seconds vs-minutes if one had to read anemail and log into E*TRADE to accomplish the same thing.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a user interface to display a positionof a follower. This user interface is displayed when the user (followeror idea producer) has taken a position once an order is sent to thebrokerage firm. All data shown in FIG. 15 is verified by the exchangethrough the API with the brokerage firm.

FIGS. 16-17 illustrate an example of a user interface to display andexecute an exit strategy (close the position) for a trade for an ideaproducer or follower. The idea producer as well as the follower can exitthe position at any time using the user interface in FIG. 16 . If theidea producer exits the position those details are automatically sharedwith everyone that acted on the idea via a closing idea card as shown inFIG. 17 . Followers of an idea would get a red closing idea card and canhit “GET ME OUT” if they want to continue following the idea producersguidance. Followers would then get all the details that the ideaproducer used to exit the trade that are also verified by the exchangeusing the APIs. Followers can hit “GET ME OUT”, then “COMFIRM” whichwill send the request to the brokerage firm. That process takes secondsnot minuets, which can save someone a lot of money and time.

The trade exchange system and method provides real-time access toinvestment ideas along with the associated untarnished trade data sothat the system and method removes the “scam” element from mostinvestment systems and the problems with those conventional investmentsystems as described above. In the system, the APIs and the generatedtrade data keeps both sides accountable. The system and method alsoprovides untampered data from a variety of institutions via APIs andperforms extremely difficult calculations, which include lot parametersfor true IRR (internal rate of return) and accountability. The real timeaccess to trade information and trade data provided by the system andmethod could not be done by hand in a short amount of time, especiallyas many trades come though since most investment ideas are timesensitive.

Without a system like the trade exchange system that is linked to thebrokerage firms via APIs, real time access to the resulting figures ofthese very complex calculations would not be possible. The real timefactor is what's needed to validate the claims made by those publishinginvestment/trading ideas because investment ideas are time sensitive.There is no way outside a system like the trade exchange to validate ifan investment publisher is being completely truthful which occurs withthe trade exchange system and method so that trust may be restored tothe business of investment advice.

The calculations and determinations of the trade exchange system andmethod would be impossible to accomplish on paper with a pen due to thecomplicated calculations and the real time access for hundreds orthousands of followers (that would require hundreds/thousands of peoplehaving access to the login credentials of the idea producer, which isn'tallowed by KYC mandate & AML law.) All online brokerages know when morethan 1 person is making trades or accessing an account via web or mobilefrom different locations and will stop that activity as soon as they seeit, per AML/KYC/compliance mandate.)

The trade exchange system and method validates the honest, profitableidea producer so that they can gain new customers. Without the true,untampered data and the results that come with it, it's difficult foridea producers to grow their business. Most people do not trustinvestment idea sources because most are not truthful (otherwise thesystem would not be in this situation). There isn't a system out therethat produces real time untainted results (what they bought, when, howmuch and if they did with real money) immediately after a claim is made.The system validates all claims that pass through the system.

The trade exchange system and method also links to the “followers”accounts and provides the same transparency and accountability ideaproducers need in order to hold their customers accountable. Thus, thesystem and method validates, for the idea producer, if the follower isbeing truthful with their results. The trade exchange system and methodmay access trade results via API and ensure the data is untampered thatgives the idea producers a tool to hold their customers accountable.

FIGS. 19A-C illustrate a second embodiment of a results user interface1900 generated by the trade exchange system that shows a user the one ormore trade ideas and the statistics about the trade idea(s). In thissecond embodiment, the results user interface 1900 may be a single pagein an application displayed on a computing device, such as a smartphone,that a user can scroll down through all of the results of the tradeexchange system. Thus, FIGS. 19A-19C are a single user interface inwhich the user may be first presented with the screen in FIG. 19A andthen scroll down to the screens shown in FIGS. 19B-19C.

In the example in FIGS. 19A-19C, a result user interface for aparticular idea provider (Mike the Geek) is shown to a follower/user ofthe system. The results user interface 1900 may include a resultssummary portion 1902 that display a performance over different periodsof time in chart form and today's performance for all of the ideas (47ideas of the particular idea provider in this example.) The userinterface may also have an active idea portion 1904 that shows thestatistics for the active ideas (ideas in which there is a position inthe property, such as a stock in this example is still owned) and aperformance comparison for the active ideas. The user interface 1900further includes an idea provided summary portion 1906 shown in FIG. 19Bin which the statistics (money and percentage) for the idea producerproperty, such as a stock in the example, winners, the idea producerproperty losers, the pending idea producer property ideas, the activeidea producer properties and the closed (no longer a position in theproperty) of the idea producer. Each number and statistics can beclicked on so that the user can drill down on the numbers and statisticsand the idea that fall into each category. The user interface 1900 mayalso have an active trades portion 1908 (shown in FIG. 19B) that showseach active property position and the statistics for each activeproperty and a closed trades portion 1910 (shown in FIG. 19C) that showseach closed property trade position and the statistics for each closedproperty trade. Each of the above portions permit the user to view anystatistics about the ideas of the idea producer and drill down into thestatistics. The results user interface 1900 may further have a missedtrades summary portion 1912 that shows each property trade idea that wasnot taken and the percentage statistics for each missed trade.

FIG. 20 illustrates further details of the results user interface 2000for missed trades of the trade exchange system that shows the stocktrade ideas in the example illustrated in FIG. 20 . A missed trade is atrade proposed in a trade idea of a idea producer which theuser/follower did not participate and thus missed the trade opportunity.The missing trades user interface 2000 may include a missed tradessummary portion 2002 and then an active missed trades portion 2004. Thesummary portion 2002 may show active winners (a missed trade that wouldhave made money) with statistics, active losers (a missed trade thatwould have lost money) and statistics, and a closed winners and closerlosers with statistics in which each statistic may be drilled down. Thestatistics may include a percentage gain/loss of the missed trade todayand over a predetermined period of time. The active missed tradesportion 2004 shows the details for each missed trade and again allowsdrill down of the statistics. This user interface thus allows a user tosee the positive or negative statistics for missed trade ideas from theidea producer that is not typically shown to a user. This allows theuser to see the positive or negative effects of not following the traderecommendation of the idea producer.

FIG. 21 illustrates further details of the results user interface 2100for rogue trades of the trade exchange system. A rogue trade is a trademade by a user that was not in line or consistent with the ideaproducer's original idea. For example, the rogue trade can be due to thefact that the user makes a trade that is not the idea providers's tradeidea, liquidates a trade position that is against the recommendation ofthe trade idea of the idea producer or takes any other action that isinconsistent with the trade idea or ideas of the idea producer. Therogue idea user interface shows the user the results from the userindividual trades and separates them from the statistics of the ideaproducer trades. This information is not typically provided to the user.This user interface prevents the user from blaming the idea producerfrom a trade that was not from the idea producer. The rogue trade userinterface 2100 may include a summary portion 2102 and an active roguetrade portion 2104. The summary portion 2202 may show active winners (arogue trade that would have made money) with statistics, active losers(a rogue trade that would have lost money) and statistics, and a closedwinners and closer losers with statistics in which each statistic may bedrilled down. The statistics may include a percentage gain/loss of themissed trade today and over a predetermined period of time. The activerogue trades portion 2104 shows the details for each rogue trade andagain allows drill down of the statistics.

For the missing trades shown in FIG. 20 , in order to account for whathappens between two parties (an idea producer and an idea receiver suchas an idea follower or user), there needs to be a log of what happened.In most cases, followers/receivers of trading ideas missed opportunitiesand logging what happened on those trades give an accurate account ofthe product/service provided by the idea producer. Followers missingtrades/ideas is very common and recognizing what happened by isolatingthe missed winners and missed losers gives a more detailed account ofwhat happened or what value the product (ideas provided) have.

The above is also true for rogue trades which are ideas that afollower/user chose to slightly deviate from the suggested course ofaction in the trade idea. An idea receiver will often choose to dosomething different with the ideas and those transactions need to behighlighted as the followers become responsible for the changes that mayor may not be profitable or good. Thus, the system isolate thoseinstances (rogue trades) and further organize them by deviations thathave an outcome that are net positive (winners) and net negative(losers) and display those to the user/follower in a novel userinterface shown in FIG. 21 . There is no system that highlights thesetypes of instances and further organizes them by net outcome. Both ofthese types of data used to generate the missed trades and rogue tradeuser interfaces are made possible in part by the APIs of the system(unique to each brokerage entity) that allow the system to access andcapture real time trade data from each of the users and each of the ideaproducers. The data captured by the APIs also allow the system toperform the logging (for example for the missed trades) that is notpossible using known trading systems.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has beendescribed with reference to specific embodiments. However, theillustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Many modificationsand variations are possible in view of the above teachings. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the disclosure and its practical applications, to therebyenable others skilled in the art to best utilize the disclosure andvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

The system and method disclosed herein may be implemented via one ormore components, systems, servers, appliances, other subcomponents, ordistributed between such elements. When implemented as a system, suchsystems may include an/or involve, inter alia, components such assoftware modules, general-purpose CPU, RAM, etc. found ingeneral-purpose computers, In implementations where the innovationsreside on a server, such a server may include or involve components suchas CPU, RAM, etc., such as those found in general-purpose computers.

Additionally, the system and method herein may be achieved viaimplementations with disparate or entirely different software, hardwareand/or firmware components, beyond that set forth above. With regard tosuch other components (e.g., software, processing components, etc.)and/or computer-readable media associated with or embodying the presentinventions, for example, aspects of the innovations herein may beimplemented consistent with numerous general purpose or special purposecomputing systems or configurations. Various exemplary computingsystems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable foruse with the innovations herein may include, but are not limited to:software or other components within or embodied on personal computers,servers or server computing devices such as routing/connectivitycomponents, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, consumer electronicdevices, network PCs, other existing computer platforms, distributedcomputing environments that include one or more of the above systems ordevices, etc.

In some instances, aspects of the system and method may be achieved viaor performed by logic and/or logic instructions including programmodules, executed in association with such components or circuitry, forexample. In general, program modules may include routines, programs,objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasksor implement particular instructions herein. The inventions may also bepracticed in the context of distributed software, computer, or circuitsettings where circuitry is connected via communication buses, circuitryor links. In distributed settings, control/instructions may occur fromboth local and remote computer storage media including memory storagedevices.

The software, circuitry and components herein may also include and/orutilize one or more type of computer readable media. Computer readablemedia can be any available media that is resident on, associable with,or can be accessed by such circuits and/or computing components. By wayof example, and not limitation, computer readable media may comprisecomputer storage media and communication media. Computer storage mediaincludes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable mediaimplemented in any method or technology for storage of information suchas computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules orother data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM,ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digitalversatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic tape, magneticdisk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other mediumwhich can be used to store the desired information and can accessed bycomputing component. Communication media may comprise computer readableinstructions, data structures, program modules and/or other components.Further, communication media may include wired media such as a wirednetwork or direct-wired connection, however no media of any such typeherein includes transitory media. Combinations of the any of the aboveare also included within the scope of computer readable media.

In the present description, the terms component, module, device, etc.may refer to any type of logical or functional software elements,circuits, blocks and/or processes that may be implemented in a varietyof ways. For example, the functions of various circuits and/or blockscan be combined with one another into any other number of modules. Eachmodule may even be implemented as a software program stored on atangible memory (e.g., random access memory, read only memory, CD-ROMmemory, hard disk drive, etc.) to be read by a central processing unitto implement the functions of the innovations herein. Or, the modulescan comprise programming instructions transmitted to a general-purposecomputer or to processing/graphics hardware via a transmission carrierwave. Also, the modules can be implemented as hardware logic circuitryimplementing the functions encompassed by the innovations herein.Finally, the modules can be implemented using special purposeinstructions (SIMD instructions), field programmable logic arrays or anymix thereof, which provides the desired level performance and cost.

As disclosed herein, features consistent with the disclosure may beimplemented via computer-hardware, software and/or firmware. Forexample, the systems and methods disclosed herein may be embodied invarious forms including, for example, a data processor, such as acomputer that also includes a database, digital electronic circuitry,firmware, software, or in combinations of them. Further, while some ofthe disclosed implementations describe specific hardware components,systems and methods consistent with the innovations herein may beimplemented with any combination of hardware, software and/or firmware.Moreover, the above-noted features and other aspects and principles ofthe innovations herein may be implemented in various environments. Suchenvironments and related applications may be specially constructed forperforming the various routines, processes and/or operations accordingto the invention or they may include a general-purpose computer orcomputing platform selectively activated or reconfigured by code toprovide the necessary functionality. The processes disclosed herein arenot inherently related to any particular computer, network,architecture, environment, or other apparatus, and may be implemented bya suitable combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. Forexample, various general-purpose machines may be used with programswritten in accordance with teachings of the invention, or it may be moreconvenient to construct a specialized apparatus or system to perform therequired methods and techniques.

Aspects of the method and system described herein, such as the logic,may also be implemented as functionality programmed into any of avariety of circuitry, including programmable logic devices (“PLDs”),such as field programmable gate arrays (“FPGAs”), programmable arraylogic (“PAL”) devices, electrically programmable logic and memorydevices and standard cell-based devices, as well as application specificintegrated circuits. Some other possibilities for implementing aspectsinclude: memory devices, microcontrollers with memory (such as EEPROM),embedded microprocessors, firmware, software, etc. Furthermore, aspectsmay be embodied in microprocessors having software-based circuitemulation, discrete logic (sequential and combinatorial), customdevices, fuzzy (neural) logic, quantum devices, and hybrids of any ofthe above device types. The underlying device technologies may beprovided in a variety of component types, e.g., metal-oxidesemiconductor field-effect transistor (“MOSFET”) technologies likecomplementary metal-oxide semiconductor (“CMOS”), bipolar technologieslike emitter-coupled logic (“ECL”), polymer technologies (e.g.,silicon-conjugated polymer and metal-conjugated polymer-metalstructures), mixed analog and digital, and so on.

It should also be noted that the various logic and/or functionsdisclosed herein may be enabled using any number of combinations ofhardware, firmware, and/or as data and/or instructions embodied invarious machine-readable or computer-readable media, in terms of theirbehavioral, register transfer, logic component, and/or othercharacteristics. Computer-readable media in which such formatted dataand/or instructions may be embodied include, but are not limited to;non-volatile storage media in various forms (e.g., optical, magnetic orsemiconductor storage media) though again does not include transitorymedia. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout thedescription, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and the like are to beconstrued in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustivesense; that is to say, in a sense of “including, but not limited to.”Words using the singular or plural number also include the plural orsingular number respectively. Additionally, the words “herein,”“hereunder,” “above,” “below,” and words of similar import refer to thisapplication as a whole and not to any particular portions of thisapplication. When the word “or” is used in reference to a list of two ormore items, that word covers all of the following interpretations of theword: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list and anycombination of the items in the list.

Although certain presently preferred implementations of the inventionhave been specifically described herein, it will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art to which the invention pertains that variations andmodifications of the various implementations shown and described hereinmay be made without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention. Accordingly, it is intended that the invention be limitedonly to the extent required by the applicable rules of law.

While the foregoing has been with reference to a particular embodimentof the disclosure, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the artthat changes in this embodiment may be made without departing from theprinciples and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is definedby the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving a tradeidea from an idea producer that is distributed to a plurality of users,the trade idea including an asset having an asset identification, atrade action to take with respect to the asset, and a price for aproposed trade of the asset; accessing, by a unique applicationprogramming interface engine of a computer trade exchange system, anaccount of each brokerage entity associated with the idea producer andone or more users that executed a trade in response to the trade idea;gathering, by the unique application programming interface engine of thecomputer trade exchange system, real time trade data of one or moreexecuted trades for the trade idea by the one or more users, the realtime trade data of the executed trades including a time of each tradeand a price incurred for each traded asset; determining, by a trade dataanalyzer of the computer trade exchange system, one or more pieces oftrade data using the gathered real time trade data of the executedtrades of the one or more users and the idea producer for the tradeidea; and generating, by a user interface engine of the computer tradeexchange system, for each user that has executed trades in response tothe trade idea, a results user interface that displays, in response tothe gathered real time trade data and the gathered real time trade datafor the one or more executed trades, a missed trade that is a particulartrade action from the idea producer that was not executed by aparticular user and a rogue trade that is a particular trade executed bythe particular user that was not consistent with the trade idea of theidea producer.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein accessing the accountof a brokerage entity further comprises retrieving a set of credentialsfor a brokerage account of the particular user and accessing, using theunique application programming interface engine of the computer tradeexchange system, the account of the brokerage entity for the particularuser using the retrieved set of credentials.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the trade idea further comprises one of a lot sentiment for theasset and a time constraint of the trade action.
 4. The method of claim1, wherein generating the results user interface for each user furthercomprises displaying a determined actual set of trade data that includesa percentage lost or won for the executed one or more trades of theparticular user and the idea producer, a trade winner or loser for theexecuted one or more trades of the particular user and the ideaproducer, and a money gain or loss for the executed one or more tradesof the particular user and the idea producer.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the asset is one of a stock, a bond, a commodity, a security, anequity option, a mutual fund, and a portfolio change.
 6. A computersystem, comprising: a processor coupled to a memory storing a pluralityof lines of computer code, wherein the computer system is configured to:receive a trade idea from an idea producer that is distributed to aplurality of users, the trade idea including an asset having an assetidentification, a trade action to take with respect to the asset, and aprice for a proposed trade of the asset; access an account of eachbrokerage entity associated with the idea producer and one or more usersthat executed a trade in response to the trade idea; gather real timetrade data of the executed trades for the trade idea, the real timetrade data of one or more executed trades for the trade idea by the oneor more users, including a time of each trade and a price incurred foreach traded asset; determine one or more pieces of trade data using thegathered real time trade data of the executed trades of the one or moreusers and the idea producer for the trade idea; and generate for eachuser that has executed trades in response to the trade idea, a resultsuser interface that displays, in response to the gathered real timetrade data and the gathered real time trade data for the one or moreexecuted trades, a missed trade that is a particular trade action fromthe idea producer that was not executed by a particular user and a roguetrade that is a particular trade executed by the particular user thatwas not consistent with the trade idea of the idea producer.
 7. Thecomputer system of claim 6, wherein the computer system is furtherconfigured to retrieve a set of credentials for a brokerage account ofthe particular user and access the account of the brokerage entity forthe particular user using the retrieved set of credentials.
 8. Thecomputer system of claim 6, wherein the trade idea further comprises oneof a lot sentiment for the asset and a time constraint of the tradeaction.
 9. The computer system of claim 6, wherein the computer systemis further configured to display a determined actual set of trade datathat includes a percentage lost or won for the executed one or moretrades of the particular user and the idea producer, a trade winner orloser for the executed one or more trades of the particular user and theidea producer, and a money gain or loss for the executed one or moretrades of the particular user and the idea producer.
 10. The computersystem of claim 6, wherein the asset is one of a stock, a bond, acommodity, a security, an equity option, a mutual fund, and a portfoliochange.
 11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storingone or more programs configured to be executed by one or more processorsof a computer system, the one or more programs including instructionsfor: receiving a trade idea from an idea producer that is distributed toa plurality of users, the trade idea including an asset having an assetidentification, a trade action to take with respect to the asset, and aprice for a proposed trade of the asset; accessing, by a uniqueapplication programming interface engine of a computer trade exchangesystem, an account of each brokerage entity associated with the ideaproducer and one or more users that executed a trade in response to thetrade idea; gathering, by the unique application programming interfaceengine of the computer trade exchange system, real time trade data ofone or more executed trades for the trade idea by the one or more users,the real time trade data of the executed trades including a time of eachtrade and a price incurred for each traded asset; determining, by atrade data analyzer of the computer trade exchange system, one or morepieces of trade data using the gathered real time trade data of theexecuted trades of the one or more users and the idea producer for thetrade idea; and generating, by a user interface engine of the computertrade exchange system, for each user that has executed trades inresponse to the trade idea, a results user interface that displays, inresponse to the gathered real time trade data and the gathered real timetrade data for the one or more executed trades, a missed trade that is aparticular trade action from the idea producer that was not executed bya particular user and a rogue trade that is a particular trade executedby the particular user that was not consistent with the trade idea ofthe idea producer.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 11, further comprising instructions for retrieving a setof credentials for a brokerage account of the particular user andaccessing, using the unique application programming interface engine ofthe computer trade exchange system, the account of the brokerage entityfor the particular user using the retrieved set of credentials.
 13. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein thetrade idea further comprises one of a lot sentiment for the asset and atime constraint of the trade action.
 14. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 11, further comprisinginstructions for displaying a determined actual set of trade data thatincludes a percentage lost or won for the executed one or more trades ofthe particular user and the idea producer, a trade winner or loser forthe executed one or more trades of the particular user and the ideaproducer, and a money gain or loss for the executed one or more tradesof the particular user and the idea producer.
 15. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the asset is oneof a stock, a bond, a commodity, a security, an equity option, a mutualfund, and a portfolio change.